


the world was wide enough

by superhusbands



Series: asphyxia writing prompts [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, the marvel / walking dead/ originals crossover you didnt know you needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 06:11:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20755634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superhusbands/pseuds/superhusbands
Summary: the world ends.  not with a bang, but silence.  technology goes down first;  phones drop service,  internet lines disconnect, power grids shut down one by one.  in a matter of minutes, everything is offline.  that’s not the worst of it;   people start disappearing.  there one second, gone the next.  they crumble into dust, dissipating as if they were never there to begin with.   they call it the decimation.( the originals / avengers endgame crossover )





	the world was wide enough

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by a writing prompt during meme day in an rp i'm in. this is written from the POV of finn mikaelson. i was pretty proud of how it turned out so i decided i should post it. 
> 
> note, i am aware i don't capitalize things. it's an aesthetic choice, if you don't like it? please don't read or leave nasty comments. it's unnecessary. (( i am too lazy to go back and edit all of it just to post, besides i like it this way ))

the world ends. not with a bang, but silence. technology goes down first; phones drop service, internet lines disconnect, power grids shut down one by one. in a matter of minutes, everything is offline. that’s not the worst of it; people start disappearing. there one second, gone the next. they crumble into dust, dissipating as if they were never there to begin with. they call it the decimation. 

people act like you’d expect them to. they riot, they steal, they kill. stores are knocked over, hospitals raided, and homes destroyed. the death tolls rise into the hundreds of thousands by the first week. unreported, save for a lone radio frequency that broadcasts … if you have an old school am/fm battery powered radio to listen on. the mikaelsons have but one, all of them crowded around it. some are afraid, others resolved. in the end, they vow to stay together; there are strength in numbers. 

from what they’ve gathered, it all started with a pulse. it took down all communications, destroyed infrastructures like a snap heard around the world. the decimation is swift and it’s unflinching; it took kol and rebekah without warning. there was nothing they could do but watch them crumble into dust. finn remembers the way tears clung to his eyelids, how niklaus exploded as the rage consumed him. elijah, ever resolute, simply kept his eyes trained on the spots where their siblings had once sat. 

they move. the mikaelson mansion is less fortress, more prison. the memories suffocate more than the feeling of helplessness. they steal a car in the next town over, raid a dilapidated grocery store and salvage whatever’s left. the people that remain, those that survive, stay inside. the powers that be don’t know the cause of the decimation; most believe this is only the first wave. finn believes in what he can see, what is right in front of him. he knows staying stagnant will kill them faster than any disease, so they press on. 

three months into their expedition, their carefully laid plans start to go awry. niklaus gets his foot caught in a bear trap. between he and elijah, finn’s able to pry him free, but it’s at a cost. the wound is cauterized with a blow torch, wrapped in gauze they stole from a pharmacy some weeks earlier, but there’s no painkillers on the road. there’s no way to quiet their brother’s suffering. finn lies awake at night; the oldest, the useless, wishing for the strength to keep moving forward. the radio speaks of a paradise; they call it the oasis, a place that exists outside the wasteland that has become their world. somehow they have power, somehow they have technology. it’s the promise of a brighter tomorrow that keeps them moving forward. 

they’re only a few days away from the oasis when tragedy strikes. niklaus is shivering with fever. finn’s known something was wrong for awhile; the infection has crept up his leg, seems to be poisoned deep in his blood. when he speaks, his words are slurred. his eyes sink in, his mouth slack. you’ll be okay, he tells his brother, not sure he even believes it anymore. just breathe, brother. we’ll be there soon. he sends elijah to search for antibiotics the next day, knowing that klaus won’t survive to see him return. he knows before niklaus turns, before the infection seizes control of him, that this will only end one way. he’s been listening to the radio late at night, long after elijah has warned them not to obsess over facts they can’t verify. but he’s known; in truth, he’s known a while. this virus is terminal and he’ll have to do what needs to be done to ensure the survival of the family. ironic that it has to be him, given his predispositions to wanting to be anything but a mikaelson. he pulls the trigger himself, weeps until he hears tires crunching on the gravel. when elijah punches him, he accepts it. it’s a pain he can stomach. 

when they make it to the oasis, there’s little left. they’re exhausted, elijah’s abandoned all hope of salvation, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to believe in a place that offers hope. a girl greets them at the door; her eyes are hard, shoulders set. her mother stands behind her, shotgun at her shoulder. “ if you’re looking for trouble, i suggest you look elsewhere. “ when elijah steps forward, hands held in surrender, the gun is trained on his chest. he thinks his brother falls in love right then and there. 

hayley marshall is a survivor. her husband was killed in the decimation. she had no other family, save her daughter. the two of them headed east, coming across a man named vincent who claimed he could save them all from their own destruction. they’d been with him ever since, working to fortify the oasis as a safe haven. they even had a cure for the airborne infection if administered quickly enough. this, finn thought, could be their salvation. or at least it would be, for elijah. 

when he’d shot niklaus, he’d done it to be merciful. but his hand had shook, the bullet missing his brother’s heart, and teeth had sliced through his arm before he died. he drew blood, spreading the infection. for finn, it was too late. in the end, it didn’t matter. he’d kept his promise, dedicated himself to saving the family he once seemed so desperate to escape. in his last moments, as elijah’s hand rested against his shoulder, he knew that he’d done the best he could. he could rest easy, he could find peace.


End file.
